Hospodar v. Schick

885 A.2d 986, 2005 Pa. Super. 319, 2005 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3441
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 14, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 885 A.2d 986 (Hospodar v. Schick) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hospodar v. Schick, 885 A.2d 986, 2005 Pa. Super. 319, 2005 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3441 (Pa. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

OPINION BY

DEL SOLE, P.J.:

¶ 1 Mark E. Hospodar, M.D. and Pittsburgh Neurology Associates, Ltd. (“Appellants”) appeal from the March 12, 2003, order denying their preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer. While the appeal is interlocutory in nature, it has been accepted for appellate review pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1311.

¶ 2 This case arises from separate medical malpractice actions filed on behalf of the estates of Patricia A. Schick and Sherry A. Zeis in connection with a fatal automobile accident that occurred on October 18, 2000. The cases were later consolidated pursuant to a March 20, 2003, order. Appellees allege Appellants were negligent in the treatment and care of Jack Smith, the driver of the automobile that collided with Appellees’ decedents’ vehicle, and that Appellants’ negligence was the legal and factual cause of decedents’ deaths. The allegations in Appellees’ complaints, as summarized by the trial court, are as follows:

On October 18, 2002, Smith operated his vehicle at a high rate of speed and in an uncontrolled fashion, and violently crashed into the rear of a stopped vehicle on Route 51 in Allegheny County, thereby causing the deaths of Shick and Zeis, occupants of the stopped vehicle. Smith’s erratic driving was caused by Smith having “blacked out.” Smith had previously been involved in two recent automobile accidents in which he “blacked out.” Specifically, on December 21, 1998, Smith was seen at Mercy Hospital by Dr. Berkey, a representative of PNA [Pittsburgh Neurology Associates], following an automobile accident in which Smith allegedly “blacked out” at the wheel. Dr. Berkey was provided with medical information indicating that Smith had a prior history of seizures. The circumstances of the accident that were related to Dr. Berkey were consistent with the driver having had a seizure. PNA’s agents did not provide Smith with any treatment for seizures nor did they suggest that he restrict his driving. On April 11, 2000, Smith was involved in another motor vehicle accident in which he claimed to have “blacked out” for no apparent reason. Smith was seen at the emergency room at Sewickley Valley Hospital where he admitted having been previously diagnosed with a seizure disorder, and being on Dilantin, an anti-seizure medication. A week later, Smith was seen by Dr. Bader, his primary care physician, who noted a previous history of Dilantin use, and indicated that Smith had a possible seizure disorder. After ordering some cardiac tests, whose results did not provide an explanation for Smith blacking out, Dr. Bader referred Smith to PNA.
On May 3, 2000, Smith was seen by Dr. Hospodar, whose records indicate that he was aware that Smith had a history of two prior “black out” automobile accidents, and that Smith lost his driver’s license as a result of the second accident. Dr. Hospodar was aware that his associate, Dr. Berkey, had obtained a history from Smith in December 1998 of a possible seizure disorder. Dr. Hospo-dar also had knowledge of the fact that Smith had admitted a history of a seizure disorder to his primary care physician, Dr. Bader, and to the staff at Sew-ickley Valley Hospital. Dr. Hospodar also received specific confirmation of Smith’s history of treatment for a seizure disorder. Dr. Hospodar’s medical work-up of Smith failed to reveal any rational explanation for the blackouts other than a seizure disorder. Based on [988]*988the above, Dr. Hospodar and PNA were specifically aware that Smith was at a high risk for “blacking out” while driving an automobile, and that Smith could cause serious bodily injury to other persons if he were to black out while driving. Despite the above, Dr. Hospodar failed to diagnose Smith with a seizure disorder and failed to provide him with medication or any other treatment for a seizure disorder.
Following Dr. Hospodar’s examination of Smith on May 3, 2000, Dr. Hospodar filled out a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PADOT) form which included the question, “From a medical standpoint only, do you consider [Jack Smith] physically and/or mentally competent to operate a motor vehicle?” Dr. Hospodar answered “I do not know.” Plaintiffs claim that in the exercise of due care, Dr. Hospodar should have answered the question, “No.” Later that month, in responding to oral follow-up questions from PADOT representatives, Dr. Hospodar advised them that it was safe for Smith to operate a motor vehicle. Approximately five months later the subject fatal accident occurred.

Trial Court Opinion, 8/31/04, at 1-3.

¶ 3 On February 13, 2003, Appellants filed preliminary objections to the complaint, arguing that they owed no duty to the third parties in this case and that the decedents were not foreseeable victims of Dr. Hospodar’s actions or inactions. Following oral argument, the court denied Appellants’ preliminary objections, and on March 20, 2003, consolidated the two cases and certified the matter as one involving a controlling question of law. Review was granted by this Court. See Pa.RA.P. 1311.

¶ 4 Appellants now argue “the trial court erred in overruling the appellants’ preliminary objections to the plaintiffs complaints when the Supreme Court has ruled that the Motor Vehicle Act does not allow for a physician to be held liable to a third party who has been injured by one of the physician’s patients.” Brief for Appellants at 4.

¶ 5 “Preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer test the legal sufficiency of the complaint.” Hykes v. Hughes, 835 A.2d 382, 383 (Pa.Super.2003) (citations omitted). Our standard of review in determining whether a trial court erred in denying preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer is well-settled.

When reviewing the dismissal of a complaint based upon preliminary objections in the nature of a demurrer, we treat as true all well-pleaded material, factual averments and all inferences fairly deducible therefrom. Where the preliminary objections will result in the dismissal of the action, the objections may be sustained only in cases that are clear and free from doubt. To be clear and free from doubt that dismissal is appropriate, it must appear with certainty that the law would not permit recovery by the plaintiff upon the facts averred. Any doubt should be resolved by a refusal to sustain the objections. Moreover, we review the trial court’s decision for an abuse of discretion or an error of law.

DeFazio v. Gregory, 836 A.2d 935, 937 (Pa.Super.2003) (citations omitted).

¶ 6 Here, the trial court concluded that given Dr. Hospodar’s knowledge that Smith had sustained two prior automobile accidents as a result of “blacking out,” it was “readily foreseeable that Smith would become involved in another accident if he continued to drive.” Trial Court Opinion, 8/31/04, at 5. The court further found “Dr. Hospodar had a duty to take steps to minimize this risk” and properly and accurately report Smith’s condition to the [989]*989Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). Id.

¶ 7 The determination of whether a person is medically eligible for a driver’s license in this Commonwealth is governed under 75 Pa.C.S.A. § 1501, et seq., Chapter 15 of the Motor Vehicle Code.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ritz, J. v. Ramsay, M.
2023 Pa. Super. 237 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2023)
Medina v. Pillemer
29 Mass. L. Rptr. 326 (Massachusetts Superior Court, 2011)
Matharu v. Muir
29 A.3d 375 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2011)
Commerce Bank/Pennsylvania v. First Union National Bank
911 A.2d 133 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Stever v. Antonowicz
83 Pa. D. & C.4th 119 (Blair County Court of Common Pleas, 2006)
Pennsy Supply, Inc. v. American Ash Recycling Corp.
895 A.2d 595 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2006)
Hospodar v. Schick
885 A.2d 986 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2005)
Burstein v. Prudential Property & Casualty Insurance
809 A.2d 204 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
885 A.2d 986, 2005 Pa. Super. 319, 2005 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3441, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hospodar-v-schick-pasuperct-2005.